Child deaths in motor vehicle crashes have declined since 1975, but crashes still cause about 1 of every 4 injury deaths among children 12 and younger. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 2003. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System. Atlanta, GA. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/wisqars/. Among those 5-12 years old, motor vehicle crash injuries are the leading cause of death. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 2003. WISQARS leading cause of death reports, 1999-2003. Atlanta, GA. Available: http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcaus10.html. Most of these deaths occur among children traveling as passenger vehicle occupants, and proper restraint use can reduce these fatalities. Placing children in rear seats instead of front seats reduces fatal injury risk by about a third among those 12 and younger. Braver, E.R.; Whitfield, R.; and Ferguson, S.A. 1998. Seating positions and children's risk of dying in motor vehicle crashes. Injury Prevention 4:181-87.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have child restraint laws on the books. However, even though more children now ride restrained because of these laws many children, particularly those 4 and older, still ride unrestrained. Glassbrenner, D. 2005. Child restraint use in 2004 — overall results. Report no. DOT HS-809-845. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation. Loopholes in the laws exempt many children from coverage under either safety belt or child restraint use laws. So wide were these gaps in coverage in 1984 that about 35 percent of children ages 6 and younger killed in crashes before their states' child restraint laws took effect wouldn't have been covered by the laws that eventually were enacted. Teret, S.P.; Jones, A.S.; Williams, A.F.; and Wells, J.K. 1986. Child restraint laws: an analysis of gaps in coverage. American Journal of Public Health 76:31-34. Gaps remain in the laws of 7 states for children 12 and younger. These affect older children in rear seats, and in a few states additional gaps affect children transported in out-of-state vehicles or by nonresidents. Another problem is the persistence of incorrectly used child restraints and safety belts.

Data subsections:

Trends

Children younger than 13 represented 18 percent of the US population in 2005 and 3 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths.

Population and motor vehicle crash deaths by age, 2005

Age

Population

Motor vehicle crash deaths

Num

%

Num

%

< 13

52,149,395

18

1,519

3

All others

244,261,009

82

41,924

97

Total

296,410,404

100

43,443

100

A total of 1,519 children died in motor vehicle crashes in 2005. This is an 8 percent decline from 2004 and a 58 percent decline from 1975.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13, 1975-2005

Year

Male

Female

Total*

Num

%

Num

%

Num

1975

2,275

62

1,368

38

3,643

1976

2,095

61

1,328

39

3,424

1977

1,996

60

1,350

40

3,347

1978

2,021

60

1,344

40

3,367

1979

1,934

61

1,237

39

3,171

1980

1,864

61

1,183

39

3,048

1981

1,668

61

1,064

39

2,733

1982

1,530

59

1,042

40

2,573

1983

1,579

63

939

37

2,518

1984

1,484

61

937

39

2,422

1985

1,464

59

1,005

41

2,469

1986

1,560

61

972

38

2,537

1987

1,635

62

1,019

38

2,654

1988

1,610

60

1,088

40

2,701

1989

1,567

59

1,090

41

2,658

1990

1,366

59

966

41

2,332

1991

1,346

60

909

40

2,257

1992

1,311

61

851

39

2,165

1993

1,230

57

932

43

2,164

1994

1,343

58

956

42

2,301

1995

1,271

58

924

42

2,201

1996

1,245

57

941

43

2,186

1997

1,170

56

935

44

2,108

1998

1,181

58

848

42

2,032

1999

1,136

57

861

43

1,997

2000

1,071

57

817

43

1,888

2001

996

57

755

43

1,751

2002

937

58

678

42

1,617

2003

934

57

709

43

1,643

2004

902

55

743

45

1,645

2005

835

55

683

45

1,519

*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Seventy percent of child motor vehicle crash deaths in 2005 were passenger vehicle occupants, 18 percent were pedestrians, and 5 percent were bicyclists. Child pedestrian and bicyclist deaths combined have declined 83 percent since 1975. However, passenger vehicle occupant deaths among children were only 23 percent lower in 2005 than in 1975. Still, child occupant deaths are 28 percent lower than their highest number in 1989.

Motor vehicle deaths among children younger than 13, 1975-2005

Motor vehicle crash deaths among children younger than 13, 1975-2005

Year

Passenger vehicle occupants

Pedestrians

Bicyclists

Total*

Num

%

Num

%

Num

%

Num

1975

1,384

38

1,632

45

446

12

3,643

1976

1,343

39

1,522

44

394

12

3,424

1977

1,405

42

1,390

42

395

12

3,347

1978

1,395

41

1,419

42

387

11

3,367

1979

1,331

42

1,291

41

362

11

3,171

1980

1,331

44

1,183

39

346

11

3,048

1981

1,189

44

1,064

39

332

12

2,733

1982

1,158

45

986

38

265

10

2,573

1983

1,134

45

944

37

298

12

2,518

1984

1,081

45

935

39

253

10

2,422

1985

1,131

46

925

37

278

11

2,469

1986

1,188

47

913

36

293

12

2,537

1987

1,312

49

898

34

297

11

2,654

1988

1,354

50

905

34

284

11

2,701

1989

1,469

55

786

30

276

10

2,658

1990

1,268

54

768

33

185

8

2,332

1991

1,234

55

695

31

226

10

2,257

1992

1,233

57

635

29

215

10

2,165

1993

1,221

56

644

30

203

9

2,164

1994

1,344

58

659

29

205

9

2,301

1995

1,339

61

597

27

197

9

2,201

1996

1,346

62

570

26

164

8

2,186

1997

1,330

63

513

24

172

8

2,108

1998

1,333

66

464

23

152

7

2,032

1999

1,311

66

449

22

141

7

1,997

2000

1,264

67

403

21

136

7

1,888

2001

1,179

67

363

21

98

6

1,751

2002

1,131

70

317

20

92

6

1,617

2003

1,114

68

327

20

93

6

1,643

2004

1,173

71

293

18

82

5

1,645

2005

1,064

70

276

18

79

5

1,519

*Total includes other and/or unknowns

It is recommended that children 12 and younger ride in vehicle rear seats. Twenty-five percent of the passenger vehicle child occupant deaths in 2005 occurred in front seats, down from 46 percent in 1975. Sixty-six percent occurred in rear seats, and the rest occurred in cargo or unknown areas.

The rate of motor vehicle crash deaths per million children has decreased 63 percent overall since 1975. The death rate for passenger vehicle child occupants decreased 32 percent, while the death rate for child pedestrians and bicyclists combined declined by 85 percent.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per million children, 1975-2005

Year

Population

Passenger vehicle occupants

Pedestrians

Bicyclists

Total*

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

Deaths

Rate

1975

45,851,304

1,384

30.2

1,632

35.6

446

9.7

3,643

79.5

1976

45,000,704

1,343

29.8

1,522

33.8

394

8.8

3,424

76.1

1977

44,337,332

1,405

31.7

1,390

31.4

395

8.9

3,347

75.5

1978

43,907,467

1,395

31.8

1,419

32.3

387

8.8

3,367

76.7

1979

43,778,959

1,331

30.4

1,291

29.5

362

8.3

3,171

72.4

1980

43,914,342

1,331

30.3

1,183

26.9

346

7.9

3,048

69.4

1981

44,049,940

1,189

27.0

1,064

24.2

332

7.5

2,733

62.0

1982

44,131,596

1,158

26.2

986

22.3

265

6.0

2,573

58.3

1983

44,119,297

1,134

25.7

944

21.4

298

6.8

2,518

57.1

1984

43,978,044

1,081

24.6

935

21.3

253

5.8

2,422

55.1

1985

44,260,136

1,131

25.6

925

20.9

278

6.3

2,469

55.8

1986

44,755,454

1,188

26.5

913

20.4

293

6.5

2,537

56.7

1987

45,348,247

1,312

28.9

898

19.8

297

6.5

2,654

58.5

1988

45,942,966

1,354

29.5

905

19.7

284

6.2

2,701

58.8

1989

46,690,604

1,469

31.5

786

16.8

276

5.9

2,658

56.9

1990

47,472,527

1,268

26.7

768

16.2

185

3.9

2,332

49.1

1991

48,240,747

1,234

25.6

695

14.4

226

4.7

2,257

46.8

1992

48,903,668

1,233

25.2

635

13.0

215

4.4

2,165

44.3

1993

49,335,864

1,221

24.7

644

13.1

203

4.1

2,164

43.9

1994

49,692,462

1,344

27.0

659

13.3

205

4.1

2,301

46.3

1995

49,920,484

1,339

26.8

597

12.0

197

3.9

2,201

44.1

1996

50,085,188

1,346

26.9

570

11.4

164

3.3

2,186

43.6

1997

50,364,983

1,330

26.4

513

10.2

172

3.4

2,108

41.9

1998

50,527,476

1,333

26.4

464

9.2

152

3.0

2,032

40.2

1999

50,667,139

1,311

25.9

449

8.9

141

2.8

1,997

39.4

2000

52,219,423

1,264

24.2

403

7.7

136

2.6

1,888

36.2

2001

52,341,395

1,179

22.5

363

6.9

98

1.9

1,751

33.5

2002

52,332,306

1,131

21.6

317

6.1

92

1.8

1,617

30.9

2003

52,187,602

1,114

21.3

327

6.3

93

1.8

1,643

31.5

2004

52,151,406

1,173

22.5

293

5.6

82

1.6

1,645

31.5

2005

52,149,395

1,064

20.4

276

5.3

79

1.5

1,519

29.1

*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Age and gender

In 1975 infants had a much higher passenger vehicle occupant fatality rate per capita than children of other ages, but by 2005 the age gap had narrowed considerably. Since 1975 fatality rates dropped 53 percent for infants, 52 percent for children ages 1-3, 18 percent for children ages 4-8, and 19 percent for children ages 9-12.

The proportion of fatally injured children who are restrained has risen greatly during the past 20 years among infants and 1-3 year-olds (from 23 percent in 1985 to 65 percent in 2005). The increase has been somewhat smaller among older children (from 10 to 47 percent). As children get older they are less likely to be restrained. In 2005 71 percent of fatally injured children younger than 1 were restrained compared with 44 percent of 9-12 year-olds. Note, however, that these percentages are not estimates of restraint use among all children involved in potentially fatal crashes. For example, if restraint use among fatally injured 9-12 year-olds (44 percent) is properly recorded, and if restraints are 45 percent effective in preventing fatalities, then restraint use among 9-12 year-olds in such severe crashes is estimated to be 59 percent.